...riddle me this:

my 92 escort is starting to die on me finally! Only reason it's made it this far is I think its all the mazda parts in it that's still holding it together!

When I start it up, the engine idles REALLY rough. When i gas it, it feels like the engine is off balance and it really shakes the car. Sometimes when I turn it off and turn it back on again, it fixes, other times it doesn't and I have to just let it idle and wait till it fixes itself. Happens most often when the car's been sitting for a day or two, but lately it's been happening all the time. What's wrong??

Ask me more questions if you need to know more. I'll help as best I can.

Serious answers / questions only please - this car is our only means of transport for my better half until we can get her a new car, which unfortunately won't be until the P5 is paid for - so i'm not really in the mood for reading 25 posts about how I should just get a new car!

I don't know a lot about engines yet, so troubleshooting them isn't my forte, but i want to learn! Help a brutha out!

 

Running rough is usually attributed to a vacuum leak, a problem in spark delivery or a problem in fuel delivery.

If it was a vacuum leak, I would expect it to happen ALL the time, not intermitently as you describe.

If was a problem with a spark plug or wire, I would again expect consistent failure, although a "weak" wire or cracked plug could make good contact sometimes and bad others. Carefully inspecting each plug and plug wire is easy enough.

On the electrical front it could also be a bad coil. I had a 1982 Honda Civic that would run fine and then occasionally run really rough and often stall out and refuse to start again until it cooled down. I didn't find out till I got rid of it that that the problem was the coil.

As for fuel delivery, I dunno. If it's an electric pump it could be failing I suppose.

I thought you had a mechanically inclined uncle (the guy who made your intake bracket). Maybe he can take a shot at it?

If this helps any, great! If not...

 

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articl...1-95escort.htm

you might want to check out to see if you were part of this recall on the fuel pump.

I would check out the spark plug wires also. Have you changed the rotor and distributor cap? You might want to check to see how much wear inside the cap.

I would follow Toru's list first. But definately check out the following parts above.

 

i had this exact problem with my old c-rx.

every now and again when i'd start the car in the morning it was running one cylinder down until it warmed up then it was fine. as a matter of interest, it always fixed itself much quicker if i drove it - ie put a load on the engine - than if i just let it idle for ages.

i found if i pulled out and drove it away like that it drove consistent with a cylinder down, no acceleration, missing, popping a little - that "shaking" you speak of (embarrassing) - but always down the road a minute or two, it would come good again.

have you checked your compression? try checking it when the car is cold and see if you have a cylinder which is way down. could be a burnt valve or one which isn't sealing properly.

i'd also check that your manifolds aren't leaking. if you have crap seals there, when cold, they may "right" themselves once the engine warms up.

i'll let you know if i think of anything else but i never did fix the problem, just sold the car.
it didn't do it to me that often and it didn't deteriorate over time either.

tell me, do you have much rain there or high humidity? i had a theory that it was related to moisture because often it seemed to coincide with rainfall the day before - but thats all it is, a theory. i wondered if some part of the electrics was being affected by evaporating moisture.

gives you something to think about anyway.

 

Does your 92 Escort have the DOHC 1.8 motor in it? Out of experience on those things, the first thing I would do is replace the spark plug wires. For some reason, they don't seem to last long on that particular motor. Whether it fixes it or not, if it hasn't ever been done, you need to get your maintenance up to date.

 

Ahh the good ole Escort

Check to make sure that the head gasket is not leaking anywhere as this is a known problem associated with the rough idle on the escort, the wires definantly, also you may check to see how your timing belt is doing, it may have slipped a tooth or similar. All it takes on the escort is one time to overheat a little to warp the head and only have minor problems with idle.
valves are also a problem on the escort as they easily bend when the timing belt decides to studder or slip.
Good luck

I went thru 2 engines and 3 trannies , complete ac system front wire harness, 2 alternators all with no mod on the car it was my 95 Tracer AKA ford peice o **** in 5 years

 

Thanks for all the replies everybody! This is great as a starting point for me.

Now this is what this board is all about - everyone HELPING everyone.. not ranting or trying to murder noobs

Some more background on the 'scort -

it's the 1.9l engine

it MAY be the head gasket OR the timing belt. We just cracked 200k on the odo not too long ago, so the belt is due for replacement. When I had it done last time, the mechanic said that the head gasket was leaking a tiny bit but not enough to worry about it.

I've never changed the spark plug wires and changed plugs only once as long as i've owned it. (yes i know - i'm bad) so it could be those too..

How do i do a compression check on the piston?

Yes my uncle is an awesome mechanic, but is also very busy so if I can troubleshoot it to the point where i know what's wrong, he'll have more time available to help me fix it (if i need the help) than if we have to sit and take stuff apart troubleshooting.

stef_nz - yup - seems like you hit the nail on the head. when u put a load on the car it seems to fix itself much faster

Don't think it's the fuel pump as it doesn't stall.. just runs rough.

I'm gonna check on everything you guys have mentioned so far, starting with the easiest stuff to check first and working my way to the bastards.

All in all, for not doing **** to the motor except timing belt and oil changes.. it's help up incredibly well. Must be the golden Mazda touch.

Keep the advice/answers coming - your help's MUCH appreciated!

 

hmm.. i'd say we get average moisture here, but this summer has actually been a drought for most of the season. I'd agree with you that's a good theory, but in this case seeing as we've hardly had rain, don't think that'd be it..

 

Change the spark plugs and wires first and get back to us. If you have not changed it for this long...you should probably do it as soon as possible.

 

Change the plugs and wires! Most likely, that is your problem.

 

To do a compression test you will need to go get a compression gauge from your local tool shop. The compression gauge actually threads into your spark plug holes. You take all your other spark plug wires off and unhook the fuel injection (you don't want fuel spraying in to the engine or for the engine to actually start running). You thread the compression gauge in to the cylinder of interest and crank the engine. You will be able to see your peak compression on the gauge. I don't know the specs for the Escort engine but you could probably find them on the internet. If you are significantly lower than spec it indicates a leaking head. You will probably only have one cylinder off unless your engine is severely messed up.

If your compression is off I recommend taking it to your uncle. You will need to tear down the whole upper engine (down to the block), replace all gaskets and seals, and have the heads resurfaced. Not to mention that the lower engine will need to be inspected for cylinder damage. Definitely replace your spark plugs and spark plug wires.

 

BTW this sounds like something my Ranger used to do before it cratered on me. So replace the plugs and wires and see if that fixes it, run the emissions codes, and then take it to someone more experienced.

 

Cool! Thanks again for all your help guys!!

way to go protegeclub!! after all the ranting and hollering that's been going on lately, this is nice to see..

 

Really? My buddy had a '91 323 with i'm sure an identical engine.. So did mazda dump the ford 1.9 into their 323s too?
Wierd.. I always thought that ford was using the mazda engines.